Everton boss Roberto Martinez has insisted that the club can still qualify for Europe and says that it his priority, not winning the FA Cup, according to quotes in The Telegraph.

The Toffees face a cup fifth-round trip to Premier League strugglers Bournemouth on Saturday as they look to progress to the quarter-finals of the competition for the fourth time in the last five years.

However, the man who led now-League One club Wigan Athletic to FA Cup glory just three years ago refuted the idea that only cup triumph would make this season a success, insisting instead that the club need to climb the league table.

He said, as quoted by the Telegraph: "I wouldn’t say I need to win it [the FA Cup]. What we want to do is qualify for a European position.

"We want to get into a European position in the table and we are in a position where we could do it. There are 36 points to play for and we are not far away. That’s what we are still fighting for and that’s our aim."

It would require a significant improvement in the club's form to achieve that target. After Everton finished in the bottom half of the table for the first time in almost a decade last season, they are in the same position - 11th - with 12 games to go of the current campaign.

However, they are just six points behind Manchester United in fifth, and an upturn in results could see them launch a late serious challenge to return to the kind of league positions to which the fans have become accustomed.

Tom Nightingale

After starting to write about football due to lack of any great ability on the pitch, Tom is an NCTJ-qualified sports reporter who has written for Swansea City, the Birmingham Mail, and numerous other publications. An avid Aston Villa fan, he still hasn't got over them not turning up in the 2015 FA Cup final.